India's Iran stand a slap for US: Burns
Monday February 20, 2012 07:59:57 PM, Arun
Kumar,
IANS
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Washington: A former
top US diplomat has questioned India's ability to lead following
New Delhi's decision to continue to buy Iranian oil, and called it
a slap in the face of the United States.
"India's decision to walk out of step with the international
community on Iran isn't just a slap in the face for the US - it
raises questions about its ability to lead," Nicholas Burns,
former US under-secretary of state, wrote in an Op-ed article in
the Diplomat, a leading current affairs magazine.
"The Indian government's ill-advised statement last week that it
will continue to purchase oil from Iran is a major setback for the
US attempt to isolate the Iranian government over the nuclear
issue," wrote the former diplomat who played a key role in
negotiating the landmark India-US civil nuclear deal.
"This is bitterly disappointing news for those of us who have
championed a close relationship with India," said Burns, currently
Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics
at the Harvard Kennedy School.
"And, it represents a real setback in the attempt by the last
three American presidents to establish a close and strategic
partnership with successive Indian governments."
Countering the Indian government's argument that it relies on Iran
for 12 percent of its oil imports and cannot afford to break those
trade ties, he said, "India has had years to adjust and make
alternative arrangements."
"There's a larger point here about India's role in the world. For
all the talk about India rising to become a global power, its
government doesn't always act like one," said Burns.
"It is all too often focused on its own region but not much beyond
it," he wrote. "And, it very seldom provides the kind of concrete
leadership on tough issues that is necessary for the smooth
functioning of the international system."
(Arun Kumar can
be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)
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